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Privacy advocates, public interest groups and even some celebrities are raising alarms about a proposal that could limit the ability of some website owners to disguise themselves.
The issue has caught fire over the past few months as an obscure organization that manages the Internet's domain name system was inundated with comments about a proposal that could bar commercial websites from using proxies to register their web addresses.
Advocates argue anonymity is a key feature of free speech online, and removing that protection from people who create a website for commercial purposes could open vulnerable populations up to abuse.
El Reg reports:
As it stands on the last day of the comment period – 7 July – there are over 11,000 responses and the issue may break the previous record when ICANN proposed giving the green light to internet extension '.xxx' which would be used exclusively for adult content websites (in that case there were 12,757 comments).
Get while the gettin's good, Anonymous Cowards!
[Editor's Note: The "obscure organization" being ICANN...]
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by n1 on Sunday July 12 2015, @06:01PM
That is the most common case with anonymous domains, I completely agree. However there are some blogs and alternative news sources attempting to provide a public service can benefit from a degree of anonymity if they are reporting on politically sensitive matters.
A commercial entity however can use a PO Box or any number of other things to obfuscate the true owner of a domain, and indeed the geographical location in which the controlling interests reside.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2015, @06:21PM
just hire a lawyer, to hire a lawyer, to hire a lawyer, ... each in turn in another country, so getting subpoenas to find the person at the top, will require multiple lawyers in turn plus multi-legal systems. So, yes, commercial entities can have full anonymity.
Now on the other hand, ICANN should step up and required through ICANN email system, contacts for issues with working with sites, so admin and tech are not just junk email addresses, phones and such. You would email ICANN at say, "tech.amazon.com@icann.org", ICANN will insure that contact is made with a HUMAN tech at Amazon and that HUMAN will be in full two way voice contact with you, say 4hrs. Only other website tech and admin (known by ICANN) can use the system, so spamming of these contacts is nil, becuase ICANN takes you domain way for failing to play nice.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday July 12 2015, @06:23PM
Even a lawyer, or a friend in another disinterested country serving as the mailing address or contact gets around a lot of political issues. (Maybe not in some countries, but then countries that aggressive probably already know who you are.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.